Hipster Developers Take A Punt On A Mosley Street Makeover

Boultbee Brooks Real Estate, the developer which made its name in the hipster heartlands of Shoreditch and Clerkenwell, has applied for permission to redevelop Grade II-listed 77-79 Mosley St. and 14-16 Princess St., Manchester into 27K SF of new office space.

Boultbee Brooks bought the building, which has been empty for nine years, as part of a £16M Manchester office portfolio in 2015. It has spent two years working with architects PRP, OBI Property and Zerum and liaising with Manchester City Council and Historic England to find a viable development proposal.

The Boultbee Brooks website lists the 79 Mosley St. site as having an end value of £16M.

It also own 67-75 Mosley St., a 66K SF scheme with an end value of £30M and 50K SF at 24-30 Brown St. with an end value of £24M.

Boultbee Brooks has sold one of the properties acquired in 2015, offloading the 12K SF Castlefield Chapel — once the recording studio famous for Stock Aitken and Waterman pop hits of the 1980s including Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. The chapel was sold to Shirestone Estates for £2.9M in March 2016.

The 79 Mosley St. plans submitted to Manchester City Council propose to retain and fully restore the facades onto Mosley, Princess and Back George streets but completely rebuild the internal floors from the basement up to a new zinc clad mansard roof extension. 

The completed 79 Mosley St. will comprise 19K SF of offices, along with 5.9K SF of retail or leisure floorspace.

“The decision to completely rebuild the internal floors was not taken lightly but due to years of alterations and the limitations of the original floorplates, it is the only feasible option," PRP Architects Director Alistair Weir said.

Manchester-based OBI Property is providing project management and cost consultancy to Boultbee Brooks.